WTF 10 Scary Snowman Holiday Cards You Wouldn’t Want

Snowman holiday cards WTF check out these very scary and disturbing snowmen you wouldn’t want as a card or to meet on a dark night come to that!

WTF 10 Scary Snowman Holiday Cards You Wouldn’t Want

Bonus Snowman Facts

A snowman is an anthropomorphic snow sculpture. In some cases, participants in winter festivals will build large numbers of snowmen. Because a snowman is situation-specific, it is a good example of popular installation art.

In North America, typical snowmen consist of three large snowballs with some additional accoutrements for facial and other features. Common accessories include branches for arms and a rudimentary smiley face; a carrot can stand in for a nose. Human clothing, such as a hat or scarf, may even be included. Low-cost and availability are the common issues, since snowmen are usually in a cold and/or wet environment, and abandoned to the elements once completed. Melting is a common end-of-life scenario for most snowmen.

Snow becomes suitable for packing when it approaches its melting point and becomes moist and compact. This allows for the construction of a large snowball by simply rolling it, until it grows to the desired size. If the snow ball reaches the bottom of the grass it may tear up some grass, gravel, dirt etc. Making a snowman of powdered snow is difficult since it will not stick to itself, and if the temperature of packing snow drops, it will form an unusable denser form of powdered snow called crust. Thus the best time to build a snowman is usually in the next warm afternoon directly following a snowfall with a sufficient amount of snow. In Europe and North America, snowmen are built with three spheres depicting the head, torso, and lower body.

The usual practice is to then dress the snowman, usually with rocks, coal, sticks, and vegetables. Carrots or cherries are often used for the nose, as are sticks for arms and stones for eyes (traditionally lumps of coal or, if coal is not in wide use in the area, charcoal). Some like to dress their snowmen in clothing (scarves, jackets, hats). Others prefer not to risk leaving supplies out doors where they could easily be stolen or become stuck under melting ice. There are variations to these standard forms; for instance, the subject of the popular song “Frosty the Snowman” includes a corncob pipe, button nose, coal eyes and an old silk hat (usually depicted as a top hat). These other types range from snow columns to elaborate snow sculptures (similar to ice sculptures).

Snowmen are usually built with two spheres in East Asia. In Japan, they are called yuki daruma after the round shape of the Daruma doll.

History

In this illustration from 1867, a snowman is surrounded by children
Documentation of the first snowman is unclear. However, Bob Eckstein, author of The History of the Snowman documented snowmen from medieval times, by researching artistic depictions in European museums, art galleries, and libraries. The earliest documentation he found was a marginal illustration from a work titled Book of Hours from 1380, found in Koninklijke Bibliotheek, in The Hague.